In for a penny, in for.... a billion?
As many of you know from my visists to your blogs, I am an ardent supporter of Keguro's initiative to put the open letter on as many blogs as possible. However (perhaps flushed with the success of my recent attempts to reach government officials by email) it has seemed to me that this is somewhat tinged with the brush of preaching to the choir, and that we need to let those not in our loop know that we are displeased and discontented. As always, the problems remains one of discovering emails. Well, it is still a problem. The point is not to let our fellow bloggers know that we are displeased, since they are also displeased, but to let our government know that we are displeased. Therefore, I believe that messages to the President's office can be transmitted by the following:
http://www.kenya.go.ke/contact.php
(If this fails, seek help from your nearest techno IT genius...but it worked for me)
It will actually get through. This is the message that I sent..... a slight variation of Keguro's, but then, I am much less polite than he is.
Dear President Kibaki, (Your Excellency)
In this one move against the freedom of the press, you have shattered every hope and every virtue I had ever invested in your government. Do you really think that you have so much goodwill amongst Kenyans that you can squander it in this way? I ask you to reconsider the wisdom of taking back freedoms that you had led us to believe were ours by right.
Sincerely,
Wambui Mwangi
University of Toronto
Department of Political Science
100 St. George St.
Toronto, ON 36G 2Y3
(Later Edit:) MMK from the "African Bullets and Honey" blog has provided this perhaps more efficacious way to get in touch with our leaders:
http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/
I would send any communications to all available contact points.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
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21 comments:
Kibaki will be judged by what he has done, oops I take that back, I mean what he has not done as far as being leader of this country. He has proven time after time, incapable of taking control of any situation, let alone his own wife. I don’t understand how a man without control of his own backyard got to assume this high office we call the presidency. How he got to where he is amazes me, I'm even more amazed by the pain and conflict his incompetence cost our Nation. I believe our leadership is not representative of our national face and should be abolished. Indeed I am not promoting violence in any way, but freedom and national harmony must reign at all costs. Any forces against this means must be trampled without regard to who the oppressor is. In my opinion, what we need is a rebirth with a new face, new blood, young blood and a new beginning. The dogs have taken our country and it is time for the true patriots to steer us back on-course. Let us not sit and wait for 2007, action toward this new transformation begins today. Every Kenyan with a clean conscience can play a role; we can boycott state functions and leave them to the dogs, the civil service can seek mass action. Any entity in support of the current regime should be shunned and not patronized. We can all speak with one voice and send the dogs to their kennels where they belong.
Kibaki will be judged by what he has done, oops I take that back, I mean what he has not done as far as being leader of this country. He has proven time after time, incapable of taking control of any situation, let alone his own wife. I don’t understand how a man without control of his own backyard got to assume this high office we call the presidency. How he got to where he is amazes me, I'm even more amazed by the pain and conflict his incompetence cost our Nation. I believe our leadership is not representative of our national face and should be abolished. Indeed I am not promoting violence in any way, but freedom and national harmony must reign at all costs. Any forces against this means must be trampled without regard to who the oppressor is. In my opinion, what we need is a rebirth with a new face, new blood, young blood and a new beginning. The dogs have taken our country and it is time for the true patriots to steer us back on-course. Let us not sit and wait for 2007, action toward this new transformation begins today. Every Kenyan with a clean conscience can play a role; we can boycott state functions and leave them to the dogs, the civil service can seek mass action. Any entity in support of the current regime should be shunned and not patronized. We can all speak with one voice and send the dogs to their kennels where they belong.
Brilliant WM. Just brilliant! Off to register my outrage.
Hm. I am quite certain that the president spends 2 hours every morning diligently reading all his emails.
I am also sure that in the rare occasions where he is forced by inevitable circumstances to shorten this most hallowed of his duties, his handlers and aides will present him with a detailed report about the "emails of the day", reciting assiduously every move, every sway of the public opinion.
Surely, there is not a single way to influence Kenya's future more efficiently, than by emailing the president. Thank you for pointing this out to us.
And I am truly flabbergasted that you managed to find such an utterly rare and elusive thing as a contact page - what wisdom and resourcefulness, obviously honed by long years of painstaking archival research.
Thanks for the contact information. I have followed your lead and sent in a letter. (I'm not sure I'm more polite. I think you're braver.)
I have always thought one of the problems of the last regime was the lack of public testimony to atrocities: this happened. we object. Instead hushed whispers, paranoia. For all that we in the blogosphere may remain anonymous, it's still a public forum for protest, a record of our political views. Open letters provide a valuable form of engagement, especially at a time when the Kenyan blogosphere is receiving attention from multiple sources, national and international.
Now I sound preachy!
My sister says she had a wonderful time! (I worry that she doesn't go out often enough, young child and all that.)
Thank you for your hospitality! Since we are all co-dependent in my family, hospitality to one is hospitality to all.
@ WM
You have made a good point since most blogs are read by fellow bloggers!Let me know if you get through to anyone of note!
My sentiments exactly..I briefly considered 'copying and pasting the open letter as well;however,I thought that maybe I was just reacting emotionally. Its quite possible that some blogs reach further than most,but I'm almost certain such a post on mine would be a waste of a great initiative. After a couple more entries, I have a feeling it would be lost and forgotten, and we'd be back to business as usual. I'm not quite sure what I(not my online persona-Medusa)can do in this situation...Other than say, contribute to ongoing discussions online, and in person as I'm already doing.
A message straight to the President's office-maybe.
thank for your comments regarding this issue. i would like to draw your attension to todays media briefing by minister john michuki.where the position take by the government is similar to the one i was stating .i for one was against the damage of propery which will be investigated as for the issue of the legality of the actions as i had stated i go by the consitution of kenya which i galdly iformed my fellow bloggers allowed for such action to be taken
Preservation of Public Security Act .
This section of the law states: "Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision
(a) that is reasonably required in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health;
(b) that is reasonably required for the purpose of protecting reputations, rights, and freedoms of other persons or the private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the courts or regulating the technical administration or the technical operation of telephony, telegraphy, posts, wireless broadcasting or television;
(c) that imposes restrictions upon public officers or upon persons in the service of a local government authority, and except so far as that provision or, as the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society."
Dear WM,
I'm a great admirer and I've tried to contact you via your Yahoo account but without success.
I'm currently developing an online black magazine and I've included one of your postings on the website.
Please let me know if this is ok.
The web address is http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com
The website should be fully ready by the end of March. I can't pay you at the moment but will give you full credit and point readers to your blog.
By the way, I'm a full-time freelance journalist based in the UK.
I write for The Guardian and BBC News Online. You can read some of my work online under my full name - Shola adenekan
Thanking you for reaching out! Hope to read from you soon.
Shola
Hi Wambui,
By the way my e-mails are:
editor@thenewblackmagazine.com
sholaadenekan@thenewblackmagazine.com
You can go here to send the letter even closer to the president: http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/
For those who are cynical about the efficacy of writing to the government of Kenya, it might be useful to note that i have received an acknowledgement of the receipt of the email that I sent, from the very same government of kenya. So that yes, indeed, the emails are being read. Perhaps not by our glorious reader, but that was never the hope really: the point is to ADDRESS them to him, so that the seriousness of the message and the intent is clear. Do not lose hope. We can be heard.
Kantai, you haven't seen the Murumbi collection the way it is now, nor have you seen what it is Mwangi and Donovan are doing. Pay a visit. This is not the archive of your teenage recollections. As for crossed wires....I did my best, so now it's your turn to find me.
@Everyone else...a luta continua.
Nota bene also that many people have supplied alternative emails to which these messages can be sent.
Those who attack the rationale of the game, and not the players, are its most formidable adversaries.
-- James J. Martin, in the introduction to Lysander Spooner's No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority.
wambui mwangi am disappointed in you . i had such high hopes but since you have choosen the easier road of activism rather than intellect and reason i can only weep for kenya.
unlike any other progressive society we have became a country that fights injustice with activism rather than ideas and reason. we are so used to using our mouths in the streets that when it comes to using our brains in the ballot we fail.
we are so used to electing the rowdy(iest) and the ones who make the most noise ,yet we all know empty debes make the most noise .
am so disappointed
havent we learned that you fight ideas with ideas and not with demonstration. we have wasted to much time sending emails that nodody read but made us feel good about ourselves
Sorry you are disappointed, Joe. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Hi all, I attended the protests a few hours ago. Here are my raw reflections (largely un-edited):
http://kenyananalyst.blogspot.com/2006/03/uhuru-park-memo.html
GULLIBLE KENYANS
Our leaders have done it done it again. They have effectively cheated ,wheedled and cajoled their way into untold millions of pounds by raping our resources in cahoorts with faceless foreign companies . However while "prosecution" seems to be ongoing on the biggest scandals(Anglo-leasing & Goldenberg), i would caution against the process of purifying or giving any iota of credibility to yesterdays looters who are in opposition now and making the loudest noises .They are akin to the hyena who scavenges when the predator leaves .The Moi era was mired in corruption and waste. The image of KANU to me is one of the ruthless, Compunctionless savannah cockerel that Kenyans knew as their daily reality for over two decades. KANU must be cackling hoarsely at how gullible Kenyans are if we so readily equate the present looting with the more widespread corruption and human rights violations under the MOI and Kenyatta regime
whats our salvation? who is clean in kenya? i dont know.....
THE SOONER WE MAKE POLITICS AND POLITICIANS IRRELEVANT TO OUR LIVES, THE SOONER WE SHALL PROGRESS AS A NATION
"In the end we shall remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends"
Martin Luther King JR
http://www.mzalendowakenya.blogspot.com
wilem
i guess it was a very good shot at it, but who is the servant the Kibaki or the Kenyans who needs the link to who most?
kwani what cut? i never got to see my screams. which are you? the other side or this side?
remember nothing moves kibs!!! he summed it up in ELdoret when he said "hata mkipiga kelele wao wako hapo hapo tu!!" or something to that effect.
its pointless trying to send kibs letters, protest notes, threats and other whatnots. the guy will neva be moved whenever raila and the country shout.
he neva responds.
i guess we better shut up
Crazy Lady(no pun intended), your views on what's currently taking place in KENYA, are much appreciated by all and sundry. But i dont think Kibaki and his men will pay much attention to what is being said in this blog or any other blog, let alone the many emails(spam) that we all can send. But none the less politics is not a game for the politician only...for in this case the fans have a big part to play in that they get to chose who plays in the next game. Keep up the good work.
Hello,
Thank you all so much to everyone who has left a comment, which I think went from being a discussion on how to respond to this one event and ended up being a much more important discussion on what the most important and efficient modes of political dialogue and the relevance/irrelevance of political opinion. I think this is incredibly healthy.
Whilst I am not in any position to argue with those who think that blogs do not make a difference, I respectfully disagree. I think Mr. Githongo successfully quashed the notion that once Kenyans leave the borders of Kenya they can quietly be considered null and void, politically. That's one thing (and I got a response from State house, so maybe rudeness works, after all...). The other thing is that we are educating each other politically, making ourselves aware of the limits of our tolerance and building a rather powerful community with the power of the internet behind us. After all, they can hardly storm the offices of the blogs and burn them and jail the editors, can they? As we have seen, more and more of both our local and international press take the temperature of Kenyan politics by refering to the opinions and activities of Kenyan bloggers (which is a good idea.) You and me, we may be just Ochieng and Wambui. Our multiplier effect, however, is more powerful and heady than you can imagine. Trust me--I get paid to think about power. So for all my desktop/laptop warriors, I salute you and I am pleased and proud to count myself amongst your number.
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